Casino Queen Draft Kings
The rebranding extends to Casino Queen's location in East St. Customers will be able to begin registering their sports betting accounts around 1 p.m. Wednesday, DraftKings said.
DraftKings is headed to Illinois. The sports gaming giant has struck a partnership with the Casino Queen property in East St. Louis, according to a JuneSEC filing. We don’t know when it will launch yet, but DraftKings figures to be a major player in the Illinois sports betting market.
“We look forward to working with both the Illinois Gaming Board and Casino Queen to bring our legal sports betting product to Illinois,” DraftKings confirmed in a statement.
The market access deal is between 5-10years long, per the SEC filing. And thanks to Illinois Gov.JB Pritzker’s executive order allowing customers to sign up from home, DraftKings has a major incentive to launch its product as soon as possible.
Casino Queen, along with six other Illinois casinos, is approved for a four-year sports betting master license. Here are the others:
For the purposes of responsible gaming, this website provides you the ability to set limits on your activity. If you are interested in implementing responsible gaming limits such as deposit, loss, and time limits, as well as cooling off periods or self-exclusion from online gaming, please look for the responsible gaming logo or the responsible gaming page for additional information. DraftKings has landed a market access deal with Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois that will enable the online sports betting operator to enter the state’s newly opened wagering market. The recent partnership with the land-based casino comes as a way around state law that was designed and adopted to keep DraftKings and its rival FanDuel. Daily casino hours will be 8:00 a.m. Non alcoholic beverages, including single serve soda and coffee and bottled water, will be permitted and available from a cocktail server. The Hotel will not.
- Argosy Casino Alton
- Grand Victoria Casino
- Hollywood Casino Aurora
- Hollywood Casino Joliet
- Rivers Casino Des Plaines
- Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino
Avoiding “the penalty box”
The partnership allows DraftKings to work around an Illinois gambling law designed to give brick-and-mortar casinos a head start. Had it only applied for an online license (which costs $20 million), DraftKings would have had to wait 18 months for approval. The law appears to be targeted at DraftKings and FanDuel, and DraftKings CEO Jason Robins aired his grievances about the matter on Twitter last June:
While it is good to see sports betting bills passed, excluding DraftKings and FanDuel is like passing a ride sharing bill that excludes Uber and Lyft. Very disappointing that Illinois customers will not have the best options available to them for 18 months.
— Jason Robins (@JasonDRobins) June 2, 2019
The workaround allows DraftKings to enter the Illinois market earlier, but it will have to pay an undisclosed percentage of net revenue to Casino Queen. Branding rules also state that Casino Queen will need to be featured on DraftKings’ site and app. So, we are likely to see something to the effect of “DraftKings Casino Queen Sportsbook” or “Casino Queen Sportsbook powered by DraftKings.”
Illinois competitors
As of now, BetRivers is the only online betting platform live in Illinois. BetMGM could also be coming up soon. While FanDuel has yet to strike an Illinois access deal, it seems likely that it will at some point. That said, DraftKings appears to be on track to beat FanDuel to market in Illinois, a big win for the former.
DraftKings is currently accepting bets in seven states. Illinois is the sixth-most populous state in the US, just a hair behind Pennsylvania, and the third-most populous state to legalize sports betting. So it’s a coveted market among the key players.
Research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming projects that Illinois could eventually rake in $1 billion in annual sports betting revenue.
DraftKings “is going through the regulatory testing process over the next couple of weeks and hopes to launch online shortly after,” according to our sister site Legal Sports Report.
It would be in DraftKings’ best interest to launch as soon as possible in Illinois with the scheduled return of MLB, the NBA, and the NHL (among others) in late July. It may be in Illinois bettors’ best interest to register from home as soon as possible, as we don’t know how long Pritzker’s remote sign-up rules will remain in effect.
DraftKings’ stock price has spiked since going public, despite the lack of sports. It will be fascinating to see where it goes if the leagues return as planned, and what kind of market share it carves out in Illinois.
BOSTON, Aug. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) today announced the launch of the DraftKings at Casino Queen Sportsbook app and retail location in Illinois. Customers can download the sportsbook app and visit DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis to finish creating their account onsite, providing them with statewide mobile sports betting access.
“Illinois is home to some of the most passionate sports fans and most iconic sports teams in the entire country,” said Jason Robins, DraftKings Co-founder, Chairman and CEO. “DraftKings’ dedication to innovation and providing customers with a premier sports betting experience has made our app the top-rated option and we can’t wait for fans in Illinois to discover why.”
Once their account is created, customers can place a wide variety of bets, including pre-match, live and proposition wagers on several major professional and collegiate athletic events and teams. The top-rated app also features a number of promotional offers available only to Illinois customers. In addition to mobile and online sportsbook access, DraftKings at Casino Queen offers a retail sportsbook at the newly rebranded physical location in East St. Louis.
“We are excited to bring sports betting to Illinois and the St. Louis community,” noted Terry Downey, President, DraftKings at Casino Queen. “The marriage of two iconic brands promises to create an unforgettable experience that can only be found at DraftKings at Casino Queen. Fans will come to love the service, passion and innovation now available in our state.”
DraftKings at Casino Queen Sportsbook and the DraftKings daily fantasy products are available via iOS and Android here.
About DraftKings
DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) is a digital sports entertainment and gaming company created to fuel the competitive spirits of sports fans with products that range across daily fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media. Headquartered in Boston, and launched in 2012 by Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman, DraftKings is the only U.S.-based vertically integrated sports betting operator. DraftKings is a multi-channel provider of sports betting and gaming technologies, powering sports and gaming entertainment for 50+ operators across more than 15 regulated U.S. and global markets, including Arkansas and Oregon in the U.S. DraftKings Sportsbook offers mobile and retail betting for major U.S. and international sports and operates in the United States pursuant to regulations in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. DraftKings’ daily fantasy sports product is available in 8 countries internationally with 15 distinct sports categories.
DraftKings is the official daily fantasy partner of the NFL as well as an authorized gaming operator of the MLB and NBA.
About DraftKings at Casino Queen
Located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, DraftKings at Casino Queen, formerly known as Casino Queen, has been welcoming visitors since 1993. DraftKings at Casino Queen is famous for its waterfront hotel, stunning views of The Gateway Arch and St. Louis skyline and an unforgettable gaming experience with extraordinary service.
Draftkings Illinois
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside DraftKings’ control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see DraftKings’ Securities and Exchange Commission filings. DraftKings does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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